Enlightenment in America

Wednesday

Aug 6, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By John Petrovick

Today, in 2014, race relations are much better than at any previous time in our history. No one is enslaved because of their race. No one races down back roads in the South to escape a lynch mob. No American Indians are forcibly marched off their land to make way for white settlers. No citizens are interned in relocation camps because of their race, as was done to Japanese-Americans during World War II.

These sad events, and others like them, have two common characteristics — they were propagated against racial groups, and they do not occur in today's society. The lack of atrocities today and the legal protection afforded minorities is a testament to continuing enlightenment in racial acceptance over the course of the last 50 years.

Chronologically speaking, the American Indians were the first racial group to be persecuted in America because the European colonists wanted their land. Settlers attacked Indian settlements to force them to move. Ninety percent of all American Indians died.

While these acts occurred before we became a nation, they are at the root of American history and are critical to understanding later atrocities committed against Indians, such as the Trail of Tears. The U.S. government, in the 1840s, forced thousands of Cherokee Indians from their homes in Southeast America and marched them across the Appalachian Mountains to Oklahoma. Thousands died on the journey.

In the late 1800s, a war was fought between the tribes of the Great Plains and the U.S. Army for possession of tribal land. It was at this time that the famous battles such as Custer's Last Stand and the massacre at Wounded Knee occurred.

Today, there is no war between the Indian Tribal Nations and the U.S. Although conditions on the Indian reservations are poor and need to be improved, Indians who choose to integrate into U.S. society are socially accepted, and there are no attempts to destroy their culture.

African-Americans have also been treated poorly in America for nearly as many years as the Indians. The first Africans to come to America were European slaves who were brought to work on the plantations of white men in the South.

The slaves were treated as property, so they could be beaten,whipped, starved, raped, or killed at the discretion of their owner. They had no human rights and families were often split up during slave auctions.

In 1865, the Civil War effectively ended slavery, and blacks nominally gained rights in the South. However, they did not receive them because high poll taxes and beatings by townspeople served to turn away any man who tried to vote. Lynch mobs wandered the streets at night, looking to hang any African-American they could find.

Everything in life was segregated — bathrooms, bubblers, schools, restaurants, and buses, to name a few. Then, in the 1950s, the Civil Rights movement created an atmosphere for change. The South was desegregated, and openly racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan were stopped. Today, even in the South, African-Americans have the same rights as their white counterparts, both in name and in fact. Attacks and killings simply because the victim is black are uncommon. These societal changes have resulted in a dramatic improvement in race relations in today's society.

After the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, Japanese-Americans were relocated to work camps because the U.S. government and populace were suspicious they were Japanese spies.

Little to no evidence of actual espionage activities was gathered; instead, prisoners were selected and imprisoned based on race and appearance alone. Their property was confiscated and their rights violated. After the war ended, the citizens were released, and today, there is little obvious discrimination against Japanese-Americans.

The advent of programs such as affirmative action exemplify our government's attempt to improve opportunities and living conditions for disadvantaged groups. Under affirmative action, minority groups have a better opportunity to secure jobs in a variety of settings. It requires they be given an equal opportunity to succeed.

In addition, hate-crime laws attempt to bring an end to violence against minorities.

Society helped to curb racially based attacks by declaring discriminatory acts serious crimes. While neither of these laws existed even 50 years ago, they promote equality through quality of life and security.

This exemplifies that American society is more tolerant of each other and striving to make a better world for all citizens.

John Petrovick, a graduate of Hudson High School, is this year's winner of the Telegram & Gazette's Student Achiever essay contest. This year's theme was race relations in America. John plans to attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst this fall and pursue a degree in chemical engineering.